he has worked with obama. he ran the transition for him and also built what has been the most successful left of center think tank launched, the center for american progress. someone with very good ties inside the broad democratic coalition and has experience dealing with congress. >> what does it say the president is calling on him to bring him in as a counselor to the president? >> the counselor is a historically a pretty fuzzy term. it usually translates into you give a lot of advice, you don't necessarily have a lot of line responsibility. i think the experience of bringing in folks like john podesta in the past has varied enormously. we'll have to wait and see how much actually operational influence they give him. can i by thing is one thing, controlling decisions is another. >> i remember in the first term of the bill clinton administration when they had some serious problems in 1993. >> a guy you sort of know. >> they brought in david gergen who had advised republican presidents and then at some point,